Ah Rome. What a weird city. After rambling for what has honestly been at least seven miles today, I finally sat down for a glass of wine in a place that looked more like a tiny deli/convenience store than a bar. I was hoping to find a “locals” place, but I’m awfully close to the Rome center, so that seemed like a tall order. Well holy crap – this is it. The bartender did not understand the word “wine” in English. Haha. There was no one here when I came in, and now it is packed with locals stopping for an espresso, or wine, or some to-go food. ps – while finding a local hangout is great, it also means I can’t communicate with anyone. LOL. Also, the bartender was just singling along to a Phil Collins song. He has no idea what it means.
Anyway – Rome. I saw incredible works of art today and overwhelming opulence. I of course appreciated the art – it was all really beautiful – but it also left me with this feeling of an overblown society that for 2,000 years has squandered unimaginable wealth on this city. Ha – I guess that makes me going to hell.
But so is the guy who honked at the nun for jaywalking today. He honked at a nun.
And also again so am I for sneaking these photos in the Sistine Chapel and the catacombs below St. Peter’s Basilica. In my defense, however, I researched the no-photo policy and found that it was just because some company had demanded full rights to all Chapel photos as part of their payment for restoring the ceiling. That was more than 30 years ago and their restrictive covenant on photography expired several years ago, but the management didn’t lift the restriction on visitors. You can photograph absolutely everything else in the museums and Basilica – well, except for the catacombs where all the dead popes and a few notable followers are buried. And if you’re wondering, yes, it smells kind of creepy down there. Sorry these photos aren’t too clear, but I was just trying to snap a few so I could share. Also, I wanted to point out one funny thing – in that big series of paintings on the blue wall (the Last Judgement), Michelangelo painted absolutely everybody naked. A later pope felt it was unbecoming of the Church, so he hired a painter to come in and paint underpants on many of the figures. Haha.
Rome is an incredibly fashionable city, which means you can get great knock-off garments for really cheap. There are also willowy Italian beauties everywhere with little dogs and interesting shoes. If you ever want to feel like a stumpy Irish woman, Rome is the place.
